Durham Western Heritage Museum Teacher's Night

Durham Western Heritage MuseumTeacher's Night

-Story by Paula Hohman

On a fine Friday evening in October, Dan Boster, Jeff Grinvalds and Paula Hohman displayed their enthusiasm and support for the Nebraska Writer's Project by "manning" or "womanning" the table that we had set up at the Teacher's Night at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. The turnout at this event was phenomenal; the number of people who were interested in the Writer's Project was quite amazing. Teachers milled about this event, enjoying complimentary refreshments, and there were many questions people had about the Writing Project. Among the most common were: "Is this held in Lincoln or Omaha?" "You mean, I get to write in this class...for ME?" "We receive a stipend for taking this class?Really?" "Could I take this course if I am a home-school teacher?" "Can I take this technology course as well?"

Of course, there were other questions and comments heard throughout the evening, but the table members continued to pass out brochures, discuss the Nebraska Writing Project as a wonderful professional development opportunity and also as a key component of the National Writing Project. Essentially, most of our literature supply was depleted in an effort to inform Nebraska and other area teachers about this stupendous event. The turnout was really impressive, and overall, we had a sense that people were truly curious about the Writing Project and what it had to offer. We look forward to next year at the Durham.